Non-league minnows Nuneaton Borough earned a dramatic draw at home to English Premiership team Middlesbrough in the biggest shock of the FA Cup third round on Saturday.
Council educational worker Jez Murphy scored a dramatic last-minute penalty to earn a 1-1 draw for the part-timers.
Fellow non-leaguers Tamworth will also find their name in the hat for the FA Cup fourth-round draw after they produced a stunning rearguard display to earn a draw at Championship side Stoke.
Huddersfield briefly caused a scare at Chelsea after Gary Taylor-Fletcher drew the League One side level 15 minutes from time at Stamford Bridge, but Eidur Gudjohnsen broke the visitors’ hearts with a late winner in the English Premiership champions’ 2-1 victory.
There was no romance for League Two Mansfield, who sit 88th in the Football League hierarchy, as they held out for 80 minutes at St James’ Park before finally succumbing to Alan Shearer’s record-equalling 200th goal for Newcastle.
Fellow League Two side Torquay held on for a 0-0 draw against Premiership strugglers Birmingham, but north London giants Arsenal ended the giant-killing hopes of Cardiff in a 2-1 win at Highbury.
An upset was on the cards at the City of Manchester Stadium at half-time as League One Scunthorpe led 1-0, but Stuart Pearce’s Manchester City turned the match on its head in the second half to run out 3-1 winners.
The tie of the round came at Kenilworth Road, where Liverpool overturned a 3-1 deficit to beat Luton 5-3.
Spain international Gaizka Mendieta fired Middlesbrough ahead from a free kick after 15 minutes, but Conference North side Nuneaton won a late penalty after the ball struck Gareth Southgate’s arm in the box.
Murphy held his nerve from 12 yards to score a famous goal for Nuneaton and ensure their name will be in the draw for the fourth round.
Middlesbrough boss Steve McClaren was a relieved man after the final whistle. ”There are so many upsets in the FA Cup each year and we were very nearly one of them,” he said.
Nuneaton boss Roger Ashby was euphoric. He said: ”It has just been magnificent — a magnificent performance and a magnificent day. It feels like we won the game, to be honest, and the supporters who are here will remember this for the rest of their lives.”
There was also joy for Tamworth who earned a draw at the Britannia Stadium, where their backs-to-wall approach proved stubborn enough to deny hosts Stoke.
”I would think this is the biggest result in the club’s history,” said Tamworth boss Mark Cooper. ”To get a result at a Championship club, four or five points off the play-offs for the Premiership takes some doing.”
Huddersfield briefly looked like they would make the headlines when Taylor-Fletcher fired the League One outfit level on 75 minutes following Carlton Cole’s 11th-minute opener for the Premiership champions.
But it took Chelsea just seven minutes to hit back and avoid embarrassment as Gudjohnsen struck the winning goal.
”We can leave here with our heads held high,” said Huddersfield boss Peter Jackson. ”I really did think we were going to get a draw.”
There was no joy for Mansfield at Newcastle and it will be no consolation to the League Two side that after 80 minutes of heroic resistance they helped make history.
Shearer finally equalled Jackie Milburn’s Newcastle scoring record when he fired home a loose ball from eight yards after the visitors failed to clear their lines.
Birmingham manager Steve Bruce admitted his side were lucky to escape Plainmoor with a 0-0 draw against Torquay.
”We had a bit of Lady Luck on our side today; especially in the second half we just didn’t perform at all.
”We will take them back to St Andrews and maybe we didn’t deserve to, but that’s the beauty of the FA Cup.”
Torquay boss Leroy Rosenior could not hide his disappointment at missing an opportunity to claim a major scalp.
”I’m sure Birmingham will be more pleased with the result than we are,” he said.
There was no joy for Scunthorpe, though, despite taking the lead against Manchester City through Andrew Keogh after 17 minutes.
They turned around at the break still in front but a second-half hat-trick from the returning Robbie Fowler spared the hosts’ blushes.
Two first-half goals from France winger Robert Pires proved enough to see Arsenal into the fourth round, despite Cameron Jerome’s late consolation goal for Cardiff.
Xabi Alonso scored two stunning goals, the second from 65 yards into an unguarded net, to inspire Liverpool’s extraordinary fightback against Luton.
”The second half was amazing,” said the Spain midfielder. ”We had a quick start, then we were 3-1 down and things were pretty tough but then we had another comeback.”
Championship sides Millwall, Reading and Leeds held Premiership teams Everton, West Brom and Wigan to respective 1-1 draws, but there was no joy for QPR, who lost 3-0 at Blackburn, or Watford, who were beaten 3-0 at home by Bolton.
West Ham won 2-1 at Norwich, Aston Villa beat Hull 1-0, Charlton thumped Sheffield Wednesday 4-2 away, Portsmouth beat Ipswich 1-0 at Portman Road and Southampton overcame Milton Keynes Dons 4-3 in a thriller at St Mary’s. — Sapa-AFP